Race Chip

[Joshua Ward]

Hi guys,

Just stumbled across a CarThrottle video uploaded a couple days ago on a "piggy back" ECU called RaceChip I've never heard of a piggy back ECU before and it doesn't sound right ? I've always been under the influence that a remap is safer for the engine ?

If you guys could shed some light on these things that would be most appreciated thanks.

 

[prt57]

A tuning box is a quick way to increase power and torque on a turbo based car. The box is a mini Ecu that takes info from sensors in the engine to modify fuelling, timing and boost. They generally come as the mini ecu as the tuning box and a wiring loom to plug into the sensors. The ecu has the modified parameters preloaded to suit the particular make and model of car. The idea is that even an inexperienced home mechanic can “remap” their own car.
They are popular when it is difficult to map a car due to security on the ecu. As an example they were popular when the Golf7R was introduced as the tuners could not crack the cars ecu software. Eventually, the software was cracked and a tuner could apply a custom tune to suit the hardware of a particular car and so the tuning box was no longer needed.
They are also popular as having a remap invalidates the warranty as a code is stored when remapped and detected when the car is plugged in at the dealer. With a tuning box, it can be removed when the car goes in for work and so the changed parameters are not detected as everything goes back to normal (as far as I know)

 

[Joshua Ward]

A tuning box is a quick way to increase power and torque on a turbo based car. The box is a mini Ecu that takes info from sensors in the engine to modify fuelling, timing and boost. They generally come as the mini ecu as the tuning box and a wiring loom to plug into the sensors. The ecu has the modified parameters preloaded to suit the particular make and model of car. The idea is that even an inexperienced home mechanic can “remap” their own car.
They are popular when it is difficult to map a car due to security on the ecu. As an example they were popular when the Golf7R was introduced as the tuners could not crack the cars ecu software. Eventually, the software was cracked and a tuner could apply a custom tune to suit the hardware of a particular car and so the tuning box was no longer needed.
They are also popular as having a remap invalidates the warranty as a code is stored when remapped and detected when the car is plugged in at the dealer. With a tuning box, it can be removed when the car goes in for work and so the changed parameters are not detected as everything goes back to normal (as far as I know)

Brilliant thanks for the info mate do you know if they are more damaging to components than a custom tune ? Some people say that they make the ECU think it's running too lean so it adds too much unecessary fuel and doesn't adjust timing accordingly? Thanks

 

[prt57]

Brilliant thanks for the info mate do you know if they are more damaging to components than a custom tune ? Some people say that they make the ECU think it's running too lean so it adds too much unecessary fuel and doesn't adjust timing accordingly? Thanks

All I have read is that sometimes the boost is whacked up without due regard for the fuelling or timing, or that the car runs rich. Also, the last thing you want is a lean mixture as it makes the combustion chamber too hot. This can leads to pistons disintegrating in the area between the piston rings.
Whereas a custom map takes all parameters into the mix to cope with the hardware fitted and condition of the engine. You will get better and most importantly safe for your engine performance at somewhere like RTech.
Here is a recent video showing what RTech has to offer. What you see in the video really is what you get as I have had a number of cars there for remaps or other jobs and so this is not put on for the camera.



I would not have a tuning box on any of my cars

 

[Gazwould]

A tuning box is a quick way to increase power and torque on a turbo based car. The box is a mini Ecu that takes info from sensors in the engine to modify fuelling, timing and boost. They generally come as the mini ecu as the tuning box and a wiring loom to plug into the sensors. The ecu has the modified parameters preloaded to suit the particular make and model of car. The idea is that even an inexperienced home mechanic can “remap” their own car.
They are popular when it is difficult to map a car due to security on the ecu. As an example they were popular when the Golf7R was introduced as the tuners could not crack the cars ecu software. Eventually, the software was cracked and a tuner could apply a custom tune to suit the hardware of a particular car and so the tuning box was no longer needed.
They are also popular as having a remap invalidates the warranty as a code is stored when remapped and detected when the car is plugged in at the dealer. With a tuning box, it can be removed when the car goes in for work and so the changed parameters are not detected as everything goes back to normal (as far as I know)

Years ago but now..

TB1

 

[prt57]

Years ago but now..

TB1

That’s interesting to know. Thank you for that info.